Yes: Don’t Kill the Whale

Official Music Video

Uploaded by vzqk502 on Aug 4, 2009

Lineup from “Tormato”:

Jon Anderson: vocals, percussion, Alvarez ten-string guitar
Steve Howe: Gibson Les Paul Custom, Martin 00045, Spanish Guitar, Fender Broadcaster, acoustic Gibson guitar, Gibson ES-175, mandolin, vocals
Chris Squire: Rickenbacker bass guitar, Pitch shifter, piano (on ‘Don’t Kill the Whale’), bass pedals, vocals
Rick Wakeman: piano, Hammond organ, Polymoog, Birotron, harpsichord, RMI Electra Piano
Alan White: drums, glockenspiel, crotales, cymbals, bell tree, drum machine, gongs, vocals

Tormato
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Studio album by Yes
Released 20 September 1978
Recorded December 1977–June 1978 at Advision Studios, London, England

Tormato is the ninth studio album by British progressive rock group Yes. Issued as the follow-up to 1977′s acclaimed Going for the One, Tormato received less than charitable reviews upon release[1] and its virtues are still a matter of debate for Yes fans and critics. Many fans and some band members – particularly Rick Wakeman – state that the production was faulty, resulting in compressed and dull sound.[2]

The album

Rick Wakeman has said that Yes never got the best out of some of the material on Tormato, while Steve Howe admitted that Yes were unsure of themselves musically at the time. It would be the final studio album to feature Rick Wakeman until his return in 1991 (on the Union album), and the last to feature Jon Anderson until the band’s 1983 reformation.

Nonetheless, Tormato – which was the subject of another Hipgnosis cover design – was still a Top 10 hit worldwide, and birthed the minor hit single, “Don’t Kill the Whale”.

The original album title was to be Yes Tor, referring to a geological formation in southern England. The photographs taken by Hipgnosis for the album cover were seen as so unimpressive that Rick Wakeman, in frustration, threw a tomato at the pictures. The cover and title were adjusted accordingly.[3] [4]

Track listing
Side one

“Future Times” (Jon Anderson/Chris Squire/Steve Howe/Rick Wakeman/Alan White)/”Rejoice” (Anderson) – 6:46
“Don’t Kill the Whale” (Anderson/Squire) – 3:56
“Madrigal” (Anderson/Wakeman) – 2:25
String arrangement by Andrew Pryce Jackman from an original idea by Wakeman.
“Release, Release” (Anderson/White/Squire) – 5:44

Side two

“Arriving UFO” (Anderson/Howe/Wakeman) – 6:07
“Circus of Heaven” (Anderson) – 4:31
Featuring the voice of Anderson’s son, Damion.
“Onward” (Squire) – 4:05
Arrangement and orchestration by Jackman.
“On the Silent Wings of Freedom” (Anderson/Squire) – 7:47

Bonus tracks

Tormato was remastered and reissued in 2004 with several bonus tracks:

“Abilene” (Howe) – 4:02
B-side to “Don’t Kill the Whale”.
“Money” (Squire/Anderson/White/Wakeman) – 3:15
Previously released on Yesyears. It features a satirical voice-over by Wakeman pretending to be Denis Healey, Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer 1974-9 and disliked by more than one successful rock musician for his policies of high taxation rates for the wealthy.
“Picasso” (Anderson) – 2:12
About the artist Pablo Picasso
Re-worked for Anderson’s yet to be released musical Chagall.
“Some Are Born” (Anderson) – 5:42
Re-worked by Anderson for his solo album Song of Seven.
“You Can Be Saved” (Squire) – 4:20
“High” (Howe) – 4:30
Re-worked by Howe as the instrumental “Sketches in the Sun”, later released on GTR.
“Days” (Anderson) – 1:00
An a cappella recording; re-worked by Anderson for his solo album Song of Seven.
“Countryside” (Anderson/Howe/Squire/White) – 3:11
Re-worked by Howe as “Corkscrew” for the album Turbulence.
“Everybody’s Song” (Anderson/Howe/Squire/White) – 6:48
An early version of what became “Does It Really Happen?” on Drama. A solo on the piece sounds more like the work of Patrick Moraz than Wakeman, dating the song to sessions from before Going for the One; in a 2006 interview for Notes from the Edge, Moraz agreed that it probably was him.
“Onward” (Orchestral version) (Squire) – 3:06
Hidden track